Cost-effectiveness of SQ® HDM SLIT-tablet in addition to pharmacotherapy for the treatment of house dust mite allergic rhinitis in Germany

BACKGROUND Allergic rhinitis is a global health problem that burdens society due to associated health care costs and its impact on health. Standardized quality (SQ®) house dust mite (HDM) sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)-tablet is a sublingually administered allergy immunotherapy tablet for patients with persistent moderate to severe HDM allergic rhinitis despite use of allergy pharmacotherapy. OBJECTIVE To assess the cost-effectiveness of SQ HDM SLIT-tablet in Germany for patients suffering from HDM allergic rhinitis. METHODS A pharmacoeconomic analysis, based on data collected in a double-blinded, phase III randomized placebo-controlled trial (n=992), was undertaken to compare SQ HDM SLIT-tablet in addition to allergy pharmacotherapy to placebo plus allergy pharmacotherapy. Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scores and health care resource use data recorded in the trial were applied to each treatment group and extrapolated over a nine-year time horizon. A series of scenarios were used to investigate the impact of changes on long-term patient health for both treatment groups, which was measured by annual changes in QALY scores. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were also performed. RESULTS In the base case analysis, compared with allergy pharmacotherapy, SQ HDM SLIT-tablet led to a QALY gain of 0.31 at an incremental cost of €2,276 over the nine-year time horizon, equating to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of €7,519. The treatment was cost-effective for all scenarios analyzed; however, results were sensitive to changes in individual parameter values during the deterministic sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSION SQ HDM SLIT-tablet in addition to pharmacotherapy is cost-effective compared with allergy pharmacotherapy plus placebo for the treatment of persistent moderate to severe HDM allergic rhinitis that is not well controlled by allergy pharmacotherapy.